LP bounces back in Delta as Appeal Court affirms Okoli’s victory, dumps Elumelu
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the July 24 judgment by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, declaring Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the last election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State.
In two judgments on Thursday, the appellate court declared Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) as winner of the election.
It faulted the tribunal for voiding Okolie’s election and proceeded to dismiss the petition filed by Elumelu before the trial tribunal and on which the voided judgment was given.
The Court of Appeal agreed with lawyer to the Labour Party, Mahmud Magaji (SAN) that contrary to the finding of the tribunal, Okolie was duly nominated and sponsored by his party and that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Delta State Government as required by the Constitution.
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The Tribunal had ruled that Okolie was not a member of the Labour Party by the date of the primary election, and thus, he was not properly sponsored by the party. It ordered his replacement with the erstwhile minority leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But reacting to the development, LP noted that the judgment was clearly inconsistent with the position of the law already settled even by superior courts including the Supreme Court. The party argued that the issue of nomination of candidates as well as membership are internal affairs of the party beyond the jurisdiction of courts, adding that it is only a political party that can determine who its members are and who their flag bearer for an election should be.
It vowed to appeal the judgement which the Appeal Court finally granted to its favour.